james



(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. JAMES.

BREEGH LOADING FIRE ARM.

No. 267,350. Patented N0v.14, 1882.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sfieet 2. E. JAMES.

, I BREBGH LOADING FIRE ARM.

No. 267,350. Patented Nov. 14. 1882.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT UFETCE.

ENOS JAMES, OF BIRMINGHAM, COUNTY OF \VARVVIGK, ENGLAND.

BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 267,350, dated November 14, 1882. Application filed October 5, 1882. (No model.) Patented in England September 2, 1882, No. 4,187.

To'all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ENos JAMES, a subject ofthe Queen of Great Britain, and aresident of Birmingham, in the county of Warwick, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-Loadin g Small-Arms, (for which a provisional specification has been lodged by me in Great Britain, No. 4,187,dated September 2, 1882,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in constructing and arranging, in themanner hereinafter described, the parts of the lock mechanism of breech-loading small-arms of the kind commonly called drop-down guns. By the construction and arrangement of parts constituting my invention the raising of the hammers to full-cock is effected by the lifting of the breech ends of the barrels from the break-off for charging.

In the body of the gun is a horizontal slide having on the under side of its front end an incline. The rear face of the frontlump on the under side of the barrels is inclined, the inclined face of the lump bearing against the incline on the under side of the slide. The rear end of the said slide is engaged with the short vertical arm of a cranked lever, the horizontal arm of which is situated underneath the slide. When the barrels are raised for charging the gun the inclined lump, acting on the incline on the under side of the slide, forces the slide back. The vertical arm of the cranked lever being thereby forced back, the horizontal arm of the said lever is raised, and its rising motion is made to cook the hammers in the following manner: The horizontal arm of the cranked lever has a cross-piece near its end, and on the opposite ends of this cross-piece cross-projections on the lower or short arms of the hammers bear. When the horizontal arm "of the cranked lever rises the cross piece, acting through the projections on the hammers, raises the hammers to full-cock. The hammers are held in their cocked position by the ordinary scar and bent. When, after charging, the barrels are shut down, the back lump strikes against the raised arm of the lever, depressing the said arm, and thereby producing the return motion of the slide without the action of a spring.

My invention is especially applicable to dropn 7 down guns having internal hammers, but may also be applied to drop-down guns having external hammers.

Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings represent in longitudinal vertical section and Fig. 3 in horizontal section the breech end of a double-barrel drop-down gun containing lock mechanism constructed according to my invention. Fig. 4 represents the cocking-slide separately. Fig. 5 represents the cocking-1ever separately, and Fig. 6 represents one of the hammers separately.

a a are the internal or concealed hammers of the gun, carried by the lock-plates b I), let into the sides of the body 0, and d d are the sears. The short arms of the hammers a a are provided with cross-projections a a which pass through openings in the body a (see the horizontal section, Fig. 3) to be acted upon by the cocking-lever.

e e is the horizontal slide working in the body 0 of the gun. The front end of the slide 6 is formed on its under side with an incline, 0 against which the inclined face of the front lump fon the under side of the barrels acts to operate the slide 6.

g g is the cranked cocking-lever, turning on the center in the body 0. The vertical arm 9 of this lever is engaged with the rear end of the slide a in the manner represented in Figs. 1 and 2, and the -cross-piece g on the nearlyhorizontal arm 9 of the lever is situated under the projections or a on the short arms of the hammers a, a. (See Fig. 3.) The extreme end of the horizontal arm 9 is situated in an opening in the'body c, and can be acted upon by the front lump h to give the return motion to the slide 6.

After the discharge of the gun the cockingslide 6 and lever g g 9 have the respective positions represented in Fig. 1. 0n raising the breech ends of the barrels i i for charging the gun the inclined face of the front lumpf, acting on the incline c on the under side of the front end of the slide 0, forces back the said slide intolthe position represented in Fig. 2. By this back motion of the slide the vertical arm 9 of the cocking-lever is carried with it, and the said lever turned on its center and its horizontal arm raised. The cross-piece g on the arm 9 in its rising motion acting upon the projections a a on the hammers, lifts the said hammers to full-cock, the hammers being held in their cocked positions by the sears 1 cl engaging with the bents of the hammers, as represented in Fig. 2. On closing the barrels after charging them the outer face of the front lump h strikes against the raised army, Fig. 2, of the leverg g and depressing the-said arm g causes the vertical armgto give the return motion to the slide e, leaving the hammers in their cocked positions, the slide and cocking-lever, afterthe barrels have been shut down, occupying the positions represented in Fig. 1.

Having now described the nature of my in-.

vention, Iwish it to be understood that I claim as my invention of improvements in drop-down guns in which the hammers are raised to fullcock on opening the gun for loading- The combination ofthe slide 6 6 with the cranked cocking-lever g g g for cooking the hammers on opening the gun, the said slide being forced back on opening the gun and made to operate the cocking-slide by an incline on the front lump on the barrels, the said slide being returned to its place on closing the barrels by the back lump on the barrels strik-- ing against the raised cocking-lever, substantially as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

- ENOS JAMES. IL. 8.]. Witnesses: v

GEORGE SHAW, RICHARD SKERRETT. 

